France's Anti-Semitic Nightmare

The Land of Enlightenment is fast becoming the land of darkness for France's Jewish citizens.

And many in the French Jewish community have been aware of this sad situation for some time, a realization that was reinforced by the attack on two synagogues by Muslim rioters in Paris last summer during the Gaza conflict. But the latest shocking, anti-Semitic crime that occurred early in December in the same city has deepened the community's feeling that the possibility of living peaceful lives with a Jewish identity in France is rapidly disappearing.

The latest outrage produced by France's growing anti-Semitic climate, found especially in its Muslim community, concerns the brutal and horrifying robbery of a Jewish family in their home in Creteil, a Parisian suburb. Three gloved and masked men, armed with pistols and a sawed-off shotgun, gained entrance to the family's apartment after ringing the doorbell. Present in the apartment were a young man, 21, and his 19-year-old girlfriend, who answered the door. Both were immediately tied up and robbed of jewellery, cellphones, computers and bank cards.